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Milda Daunoraite
and the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston |
★★★★
Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971): Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
Encore:
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757): Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K141
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791): Serenade No. 10 in B flat major, K361 'Gran Partita'
After a strong opening to their new season just a few weeks ago, the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s pared down wind and brass forces could have seemed like an anticlimax after the excitement of Rachmaninov, and the augmented brass forces required for Janáček’s glorious Sinfonietta (see my review here). But not at all – a first half of spiky, jazzy Stravinsky followed by Mozart’s sublime ‘Gran Partita’ Serenade was the perfect programme to show off the talents of the BPO wind and brass sections (with timpani and double basses added to the mix).
Stravinsky’s brief Symphonies of Wind Instruments gets occasional outings on the concert platform as an interesting opener (as here), but the real treat was his Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, much more rarely heard. I’m not sure why, other than the unusual orchestral forces, but here it fit the programme perfectly.
Stravinsky dedicated his Symphonies of Wind Instruments to the memory of Debussy, who had died two years before. A chorale was his starting point, which actually comes at the end of the piece, with sections of austere ‘litanies’ leading up to it. The writing is spiky and edgy, and whilst the notes were there (mostly – there were one or two stray entries in the sequences of tutti chords), MacGregor and the BPO players didn’t quite manage to make the piece fly today. Nevertheless, the winding flute solo, joined by the clarinet weaving in and out of the line, and the darkly brooding brass in the chorale were high points here.
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Joanna MacGregor
and members of the BPO
© Nick Boston |
When it came to the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, the BPO players, once up and running, showed greater confidence in their convictions, not least given the strikingly assured performance from the young Lithuanian pianist Milda Daunoraite. From the sombre opening, a kind of French overture with dotted rhythms (which quickly overlap the bar line, particularly from the trumpet, shifting things a little off kilter), the piano then takes things in a much jazzier direction in the Allegro section, and Daunoraite’s razor-sharp articulation over the relentless rise of a scale from the low brass was highly effective. The slow movement is unusually lyrical for Stravinsky, and again Daunoraite showed her range with warmth in the rich chords as well as plaintive lyricism in the falling lines. Spikiness returns for the finale, yet its delightful pastiche of Paris café-style and cabaret jazz, makes for a less austere and more playful feel. Daunoraite enjoyed the racing, relentless motion of the piano writing, with tunes and new ideas flying around constantly. By now, MacGregor and the players were fully in the zone, and the crazy scamper to the end, following the brief return of the opening movement’s French overture material, allowed Daunoraite to finish with a suitable flourish. Daunoraite then treated us to a dazzling encore of Scarlatti’s fiendish Keyboard Sonata K141, with its rapid repeating notes and hand-crossing virtuosity seemingly effortless.
A brave move to reduce the musical forces on stage even further for the concert’s second half, but Mozart’s wonderful Serenade No. 10, ‘Gran Partita’ was big enough, both in terms of length and sheer musical invention, to prove a worthy finish to the afternoon. So the twelve winds (two each of oboes, clarinets, basset horns and bassoons, plus four horns) plus one double bass proceeded to treat us to the riches of Mozart’s exquisite writing for the excellent Viennese wind players of his day. Mozart is definitely pushing the boat out here, with two slow movements, two minuets (both with double trios) and two ‘finales’, all following a huge opening movement. MacGregor conducted here, setting clear tempi, although I suspect the players could have led this themselves, their chamber ensemble impressively tight throughout. The opening movement was full of warmth and character, with a healthy tempo set for the Allegro molto, requiring great agility from the bassoons and basset horns in particular. Both minuet movements had joyful bounce, with stellar work from first bassoon Jonathan Price in the second trio of the first. The set-up of the bouncing lilt to the third movement was a little unsteady to begin with, but soon settled, allowing the long lyrical lines from the solo oboe (Alun Darbyshire) and clarinet (Helen Bishop) to blossom nicely. By the time the second of the slow movements arrived, they were all on a roll, growing into the beautiful lines with real tenderness. Its Allegretto section was taken at a great tempo, the bassoons shining once again. The first of the ‘finale’ movements is a set of theme and variations, and clarinettist Helen Bishop led off with a perky delivery of the themes, with the following variations allowing different instruments to shine in turn. The minor key variation might have had a little more mystery, but otherwise, the variety of characterisation in Mozart’s writing was brought out in style, before a wonderfully energetic coda. And to top that, they launched in the final Rondo at a rattling speed, with precise articulation despite the tempo, and a fabulous build to the end.
